Eli Manning has huge decision to make, just like the Giants

Eli Manning broke routine for a second straight day on Monday entering another offseason of uncertainty about his Giants future.

Manning, who turns 38 on Thursday, did not speak to the media in the open locker room portion of the Giants’ breakup day, which is not typical of one of the NFL’s most accessible stars.

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And this followed Manning taking the uncommon step on Sunday of taking a family photo with his three daughters prior to the Giants’ season finale loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

It also came on the heels of Manning’s father, Archie, telling ESPN after Sunday’s loss: “If Eli is done playing, I’m fine with it. But if he comes back, the Giants have got to win. They can’t go through another season like this.”

In other words, this is a two-way street. Manning has a decision to make just as the Giants do, depending on the organization’s direction — are they approaching 2019 to win, or as another chapter of a gradual rebuild that began belatedly midway through this 2018 season?

Eli Manning. (Bill Kostroun / AP)

We know one thing: Pat Shurmur has made it quite clear that his priority is to win even though he knows his 5-11 team needs work. Shurmur has said he believes this is close to being a playoff team. And he said Sunday he expects Manning to be back and said he believes in him.

Shurmur said of his assessment of Manning’s 2018 season: “We’ll go back and look at it all, but I think he was better able to showcase what he could do once we solidified the offensive line. And I think that’s a fair assessment.”

Players aren’t required to talk on the day that wraps up the season, and Manning did address all relevant questions about his future after Sunday’s loss. And he genuinely appeared to not know what his future held.

“No, not right now,” Manning said Sunday of whether he had a gut feeling he’d be back in 2019. “We will figure it all out.”

It’s also understandable Manning might not have wanted to field all the same questions if he didn’t have any more answers than he had on Sunday. It was still noteworthy, though, that the 15-year veteran, two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback was nowhere to be seen.

"But if he comes back, the Giants have got to win. They can’t go through another season like this.”

Archie manning to espn

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The all-important question, though, is what GM Dave Gettleman thinks, holding the No. 6 overall pick, which he could use on a quarterback such as Dwayne Haskins or on a position player that can help the Giants and Manning get better and hopefully win now.

Gettleman is scheduled to talk Wednesday on the record for the first time since late July, so there could be an answer then on Manning’s future with the team. For now, though, we know Shurmur at least was emboldened by what he saw from Manning in the season’s second half.

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“I think it’s all coordinated,” Shurmur said. “And I think the quarterback play, the line play, the ability to run the ball -- I think what we want to be offensively was better showcased from the bye week on … Part of that was we solidified the offensive line, which allowed Eli to do more of what Eli can do better … I think we would all agree in the second half of the year we played much better offense.”

2019 OPPONENTS SET

The Giants’ slate of opponents for their 2019 schedule is set. At home, they’ll host the Cowboys, Eagles, Washington, Packers, Vikings, Bills, Dolphins and Cardinals. And on the road, they’ll visit the Cowboys, Eagles, Washington, Bears, Lions, Patriots, Jets and Bucs. The NFL will release the full schedule with dates and times in April.